State law reference
Vermont Dormant Mineral Act
What does the Vermont Dormant Mineral Act say? An interest in oil and gas is deemed abandoned when it has been unused for a continuous 10 years after July 1, 1973 and no statement of interest has been filed within the preceding five years; the abandoned interest reverts to and merges with the surface estate from which it was severed.
Official text cited Researched and checked by American Mineral Registry against the official text; review completed October 1, 2026. Reference research, not legal advice.
- Rule type
- Dormant mineral statute
- Period
- 10 years
- Ends without a surface owner step
- Yes
- Preservation filing
- Available
- Forced pooling statute
- No statute found
- Surface damages statute
- No statute found
- Deceased or unlocated owner
- Partly checked
How the rule works
Oil and gas abandonment statute, 10 years of nonuse (29 V.S.A. § 563); a 40 year marketable record title act also applies. An interest in oil and gas is deemed abandoned when it has been unused for a continuous 10 years after July 1, 1973 and no statement of interest has been filed within the preceding five years; the abandoned interest reverts to and merges with the surface estate from which it was severed. Interests kept by the owner who originally severed the minerals are exempt, and other minerals are covered only if created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest. The surface owner may publish, mail and record a notice with an affidavit, which makes the interest presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise. Separately, the Marketable Record Title Act (27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606) bars pre root interests after 40 years unless a notice of claim is recorded, and it has no exception for mineral interests.
What has to happen
Nothing is required for the interest to be deemed abandoned and to revert (§ 563(a) and (b)). To clear the record, the surface owner may publish a notice of abandonment in a newspaper of general circulation in the town, mail a copy by certified or registered mail within 10 days to the owner's address if shown of record (§ 563(g)), and record a copy of the notice with an affidavit that the § 563(b) criteria are met and notice was given; the interest is then presumed abandoned unless a court finds to the contrary (§ 563(h)).
What counts as use or preserves the interest
Actual production of oil or gas, including production from lands covered by a lease to which the interest is subject, or from lands pooled or unitized with such lands
Oil and gas operations conducted under the terms of the instrument creating the interest
Payment of rental or royalties for the purpose of delaying or continuing the use of the interest
Payment of taxes on the oil and gas interest
A currently valid permit under 10 V.S.A. chapter 151, or a currently valid drilling permit under chapter 14 (the drilling permit provisions were repealed in 2023)
A statement of interest recorded within the preceding five years (§ 563(b)(2) and (f))
Preservation filing
Statement of interest recorded in the land records of any municipality where the land lies, containing a description of the land, the nature of the interest claimed, the book and page of recording of the original grant, and the claimant's name and address (§ 563(f)). Under the MRTA, a notice of claim verified by oath and recorded within the 40 year period, indexed under the claimant and the current record owner, preserves an interest for 40 years from filing (27 V.S.A. §§ 603, 605).
Scope
- Interests covered
- All interests in oil and gas, except an interest retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate from the surface (§ 563(c) and (d)). The MRTA reaches any interest in real estate not excepted by 27 V.S.A. § 604, which excepts lessor and lessee interests under leases but not severed mineral interests.
- Minerals covered
- Oil and gas; other minerals only if created inclusively in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest. Mineral interests that do not expressly include oil and gas are outside § 563 but within the MRTA.
- Exceptions
Interest retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate (§ 563(c))
Mineral interests that do not expressly include an oil and gas interest or were intended to be separate from one (§ 563(d))
MRTA: lessor and lessee interests under leases, certain mortgages, unrecorded adverse possession, remainders and reverters, visible or recorded easements, conservation rights, and interests of the United States, the State and its subdivisions (27 V.S.A. § 604)
- Enactment and amendments
- Former § 563 added by 1981, No. 240 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 28, 1982, amended 2017, No. 24, § 2, eff. May 4, 2017; repealed with chapter 14 subchapters 1 to 7 by 2023, No. 53, § 135, eff. June 8, 2023; added again in the same terms by 2024, No. 161, § 36, effective on passage (signed June 6, 2024). MRTA added by 1969, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; § 604 last amended 2023, No. 6, § 341.
Dates and what they mean
A last use date plus the statutory period gives only an illustrative anniversary: the first day the nonuse condition could be met if nothing that counts as use happened since. It is not a loss date. Try the dormant mineral rule finder.
A calculator can show the later of last qualifying use plus 10 years and July 1, 1983, valid only if no statement of interest was recorded in the five years before that date. It is illustrative because the statute was repealed from June 8, 2023 until June 6, 2024 and the effect of that gap is unsettled. The MRTA runs from the surface owner's root of title, not from use.
Deceased or unlocated owner
Partly checked What the law of Vermont says when the owner of record has died, is unknown, or cannot be found. It sets out the questions; it does not decide who owns an interest, whether a notice was valid, or whether an interest ended.
Why only partly checked. Still open: court, receivership or trust for missing owners.
Vermont deems an oil and gas interest abandoned after ten continuous years of nonuse with no statement of interest in the preceding five years, and the abandoned interest reverts to the surface estate; a surface owner's published and filed notice makes it presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise. The statute names the record owner, mails notice only to an address shown on record, requires no search, and says nothing about deceased, unknown or unlocated owners, though it exempts interests still held by the original severing owner. The separate Marketable Record Title Act lets a notice of claim be filed for a claimant of uncertain identity and says absence does not suspend its 40 year period. No Vermont decision was located.
- Owner of record has died
- 29 V.S.A. § 563 does not mention a deceased owner, heirs or devisees. Its exemption covers an interest retained by the owner who originally severed the minerals, and the text does not say whether it survives that owner's death (P3). Under the Marketable Record Title Act, a transfer by inheritance or descent occasioned by death counts as a conveyance (P9).
- Current owner unknown
- Section 563 does not address an owner whose identity is unknown. Its notice names the record owner and is always published (P5, P6). Under the Marketable Record Title Act, a notice of claim may be filed for a claimant who is one of a class whose identity is uncertain (P10).
- Owner known but cannot be found
- Section 563 requires mailing only where the owner's address is shown on record; publication is the only other notice (P6). It requires no search for a current address. Under the Marketable Record Title Act, absence does not suspend the 40 year period (P8).
How the nonuse rule treats these owners Statute
Section 563 deems an oil and gas interest abandoned after ten continuous years of nonuse after July 1, 1973 with no statement of interest in the preceding five years; it then reverts to the surface estate. A surface owner's published notice and affidavit, once filed, make the interest presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise. Separately, the Marketable Record Title Act bars pre root interests after 40 years, and absence or lack of knowledge does not suspend that period.
Statute
An abandoned oil and gas interest reverts to and merges with the surface estate from which it was severed. 29 V.S.A. § 563(a)
“An abandoned interest in oil and gas shall revert to and merge with the surface estate from which it was severed.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.
The interest is deemed abandoned when unused for a continuous ten years after July 1, 1973 and no statement of interest has been filed within the preceding five years. 29 V.S.A. § 563(b)
“(1) it has been unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973; and (2) no statement of interest under subsection (e) of this section has been filed at any time within the preceding five years.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located. The cross reference reads subsection (e), while the statement of interest is described in subsection (f).
Once the notice and an affidavit are filed in the land records, the interest is presumed abandoned unless a court finds otherwise. 29 V.S.A. § 563(h)
“After the notice and affidavit have been filed, unless a court finds to the contrary, the oil and gas interest shall be presumed abandoned, and the interest of the surface owner shall be presumed for all purposes free of encumbrance from that interest.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.
Under the Marketable Record Title Act, no absence, incapacity, disability or lack of knowledge suspends the 40 year period. 27 V.S.A. § 602(b)
“No absence, incapacity, disability, or lack of knowledge of any kind on the part of any person shall suspend the running of the 40-year period.”
Scope: Marketable Record Title Act, 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606, which applies to any interest in real estate and has no exception for mineral interests in § 604. Not a nonuse statute. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
Heirs, devisees and successors Statute
Section 563 exempts interests retained by the original severing owner and is silent on heirs and devisees. The Marketable Record Title Act treats inheritance or descent as a conveyance.
Statute
The abandonment rule does not apply to an interest retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate. 29 V.S.A. § 563(c)
“The provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply to any interest in oil or gas that has been retained by the owner who originally severed the mineral estate from the surface estate”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located. The text does not say whether the exemption continues after that owner dies or passes the interest to heirs or devisees.
For the Marketable Record Title Act, a conveyance includes a transfer of an interest by inheritance or descent occasioned by death. 27 V.S.A. § 602(c)
“also includes the transfer of an interest in real estate by inheritance or descent occasioned by death.”
Scope: Marketable Record Title Act, 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606, which applies to any interest in real estate and has no exception for mineral interests in § 604. Not a nonuse statute. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
Search required to find the owner Statute
No search is required by § 563. Mailing is required only to an address of the owner shown on record.
Statute
The notice is published in a local newspaper, and a copy is mailed by certified or registered mail only if the owner's address is shown on record. 29 V.S.A. § 563(g)
“published in a newspaper of general circulation in the town or towns where the land affected is located. If the address of the owner of the oil and gas interest is shown on record, a copy of the notice shall be mailed to that address by certified or registered mail within 10 days after the date of publication.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.
Who gets notice, and how Statute
The notice of abandonment names the record owner, describes the land and the interest, and states that the interest is presumed abandoned. It is mailed only to a record address.
Statute
The surface owner's notice of abandonment names the record owner of the interest and states that the interest is presumed abandoned. 29 V.S.A. § 563(g)
“Notice shall contain the name of the record owner of the interest; a description of the land and the nature of the interest; the book and page of filing of the interest, if it is filed; the name and address of the person giving notice; and a statement that the interest is presumed abandoned.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.
The notice is published in a local newspaper, and a copy is mailed by certified or registered mail only if the owner's address is shown on record. 29 V.S.A. § 563(g)
“published in a newspaper of general circulation in the town or towns where the land affected is located. If the address of the owner of the oil and gas interest is shown on record, a copy of the notice shall be mailed to that address by certified or registered mail within 10 days after the date of publication.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.
Notice by publication Statute
Publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the town or towns where the land lies is required in every case, not only when the owner cannot be found.
Statute
The notice is published in a local newspaper, and a copy is mailed by certified or registered mail only if the owner's address is shown on record. 29 V.S.A. § 563(g)
“published in a newspaper of general circulation in the town or towns where the land affected is located. If the address of the owner of the oil and gas interest is shown on record, a copy of the notice shall be mailed to that address by certified or registered mail within 10 days after the date of publication.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located.
How the owner responds or preserves Statute
The owner preserves the interest by filing a statement of interest in the land records; under § 563(b) a filing within the preceding five years prevents abandonment. Section 563 names only the owner as filer. A Marketable Record Title Act notice of claim may be filed by someone acting for a claimant who is unable to act or of uncertain identity.
Statute
The interest is deemed abandoned when unused for a continuous ten years after July 1, 1973 and no statement of interest has been filed within the preceding five years. 29 V.S.A. § 563(b)
“(1) it has been unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973; and (2) no statement of interest under subsection (e) of this section has been filed at any time within the preceding five years.”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located. The cross reference reads subsection (e), while the statement of interest is described in subsection (f).
The owner of an oil or gas interest may file a statement of interest in the land records, stating the land, the interest and the recording of the original grant. 29 V.S.A. § 563(f)
“The owner of an interest in oil or gas may file a statement of interest in the land records of any municipality in which the land affected is located. The statement shall include a description of the land affected, the nature of the interest claimed, the book and page of recording of the original grant”
Scope: Interests in oil and gas, and other minerals created in the same instrument that expressly creates an oil and gas interest, under 29 V.S.A. § 563 (added 2024, No. 161, eff. June 6, 2024). Statutory text only; no Vermont decision construing it was located. The subsection names only the owner as filer; it does not provide for filing on behalf of another person. The statement must also give the claimant's name and address.
A notice of claim under the Marketable Record Title Act may be filed by a claimant or by a person acting for a claimant under a disability, unable to act, or of a class whose identity is uncertain. 27 V.S.A. § 605(b)
“may be filed by a claimant or any person acting on behalf of a claimant if such claimant is: (1) under a disability; (2) unable to assert a claim on his or her own behalf; or (3) one of a class whose identity is uncertain.”
Scope: Marketable Record Title Act, 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606, which applies to any interest in real estate and has no exception for mineral interests in § 604. Not a nonuse statute. No decision applying it to a mineral interest was located.
Court, receivership or trust for missing owners Not yet verified
No verified statement yet.
What a title review must establish
- Has a surface owner filed a notice of abandonment and affidavit under 29 V.S.A. § 563(h), and has any court found to the contrary?
- Is the oil and gas interest still held by the owner who originally severed it, or has it passed by death, deed or devise?
- Has any owner filed a statement of interest in the land records, and when?
- Was the notice published in a newspaper of general circulation in each town where the land lies?
- Was an address of the owner shown on record, and if so was a copy mailed within 10 days after publication?
- Is the mineral interest outside the surface owner's 40 year record chain, and was a Marketable Record Title Act notice of claim filed?
Dates. Section 563(b): "unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973" and no statement of interest "filed at any time within the preceding five years". Section 563(g): copy mailed "within 10 days after the date of publication". Section 563 took effect June 6, 2024 (2024, No. 161, § 36). Marketable Record Title Act: unbroken chain "for 40 years" (27 V.S.A. § 601(a)); a notice of claim "shall remain effective for a period of 40 years from the date of filing" (§ 605(c)). Nothing is computed here. The rule finder does not calculate this period.
What AMR searched. Read: 29 V.S.A. §§ 561 to 563 (chapter 14 as captured May 12, 2025 through the Internet Archive; the official host timed out) and 27 V.S.A. §§ 601 to 606 (captured March 14, 2026). CourtListener search, Vermont Supreme Court filter, for oil and gas with abandoned or statement of interest returned no decision. Not reviewed: probate law, quiet title procedure, and a whole code search for unknown owner, receiver or escrow terms near mineral, oil or gas. The October dormancy review records that the former oil and gas conservation chapter was repealed in 2023; that was not re-read here. A point marked not addressed means only that the provisions read do not address it; probate, quiet title and other general procedures may still apply and were not reviewed.
Not settled by this review.
Whether the original severing owner exemption in § 563(c) passes to that owner's heirs or devisees; the text does not say.
Section 563(b)(2) refers to a statement of interest under subsection (e), but the statement is described in subsection (f); confirm against the current official text and any revisor note.
The May 12, 2025 capture is the most recent read; confirm § 563 has not been amended since.
Whether a statement of interest under § 563(f) may be filed by someone acting for an heir of uncertain identity; § 563 names only the owner.
Checked October 6, 2026. Also in the dormant mineral rule finder.
Forced pooling
No statute found Vermont had compulsory pooling: former 29 V.S.A. § 523 let the Natural Gas and Oil Resources Board pool all tracts and interests in a drilling unit. It was repealed with the rest of chapter 14 subchapters 1 to 7 effective June 8, 2023, and no current pooling statute was found. Hydraulic fracturing is prohibited by 29 V.S.A. § 571.
Searched: Current 29 V.S.A. chapter 14 (archived May 12, 2025) and chapter 13, and the chapter lists of Titles 10, 27 and 29 (archived 2026-04), searched for oil, gas, mineral, mining, pool and unit. Only §§ 561, 563 and 571 remain in force in chapter 14.
Surface damages
No statute found No statute requiring oil and gas operators to compensate surface owners was found. Former 29 V.S.A. § 541(e) required 15 days' written notice by certified mail to the surface landowner before drilling, without any compensation duty, and was repealed effective June 8, 2023.
Searched: Current and 2020 text of 29 V.S.A. chapter 14 searched for surface, landowner and damage; chapter lists of Titles 10, 27 and 29 reviewed. No full text search of the whole V.S.A. was possible.
Taxes
Broad personal income tax: yes. The Vermont income of a nonresident includes rents and royalties derived from the ownership of property located in Vermont, while the Vermont income of a resident starts from the resident's full adjusted gross income. Official text cited Source and notes.
Severance or production tax. Not part of AMR’s October 2026 tax review, which covered 25 producing states; that is not a finding that Vermont levies none. Use the state revenue agency’s own pages.
Not tax advice. Rates change and the cited source controls.
Sources for the dormant mineral rule
Each source was read on the date shown. Where an official site was not available, the official page was read through a dated Internet Archive copy and that is stated.
- 29 V.S.A. § 563(a), (b)
“An abandoned interest in oil and gas shall revert to and merge with the surface estate from which it was severed. ... An interest in oil and gas is deemed abandoned at any time that: (1) it has been unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973”
- 2024, No. 161, §§ 36 and 58
“Sec. 36. 29 V.S.A. § 563 is added to read: ... This act shall take effect on passage ... Date Governor signed bill: June 6, 2024”
- 29 V.S.A. ch. 14, history note
“§§ 561-566. Repealed. 2023, No. 53, § 135, eff. June 8, 2023.”
- 27 V.S.A. § 603
“free and clear of any and all interests, liens, claims, and charges the existence of which depends in whole or in part upon any act, transaction, event, or omission that occurred prior to such 40-year period”
Open questions for a specialist
This review did not settle these points. They are where a Vermont title attorney or landman should look first.
Acts of the 2025 and 2026 sessions were not checked; the newest archived chapter page includes only the 2024 session.
Effect of the June 8, 2023 repeal on interests already deemed abandoned under the former section, and whether the 2024 re-enactment, which has no retroactivity clause for § 36, counts nonuse during the gap.
§ 563(b)(2) refers to a statement of interest under subsection (e), but the statement is in subsection (f); the cross reference error was carried into the 2024 text.
Use (5) refers to a drilling permit under chapter 14, whose permit provisions were repealed in 2023.
No Vermont decision applying § 563, or applying the MRTA to severed minerals such as talc, slate or granite, was located; case law was not searched for this release.
Common questions
Can mineral rights lapse in Vermont?
Yes. Vermont’s statute can end an interest after 10 years without use, and it works by itself, without a court case or a notice from the surface owner. Recording the statement the statute provides keeps the interest alive; the rule and its citation are under How the rule works.
How long before unused mineral rights lapse in Vermont?
10 years. Unused for a continuous period of 10 years after July 1, 1973, and no statement of interest filed at any time within the preceding five years (§ 563(b)). Any qualifying use under § 563(e) starts a new 10 year period; a recorded statement of interest prevents abandonment for the five years after it is filed.
How can an owner keep a Vermont mineral interest from lapsing?
By recording the filing the statute provides before the period runs. What it must contain and where it is recorded are under Preservation filing above.
Does Vermont allow forced pooling?
A search of Vermont’s official code found no forced pooling statute. The scope of that search is under Forced pooling above.
Does Vermont require payment for surface damage?
A search of Vermont’s official code found no surface damages statute of that kind. Leases, deeds and general law can still give the surface owner a claim.
What changed
The June 2026 edition listed Vermont as Does not lapse, lapse period none. Release 2026.10 replaced that entry with the reviewed rule above, and retired the June risk score and ranking for every state. Release 2026.10.1 added the deceased or unlocated owner section. See all changes.
Cite this page
American Mineral Registry. "Vermont Dormant Mineral Act." U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, release 2026.10.1, October 6, 2026. https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ vermont-dormant-mineral-act
[Vermont Dormant Mineral Act](https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ vermont-dormant-mineral-act), U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
<a href="https:// americanmineralregistry.com/ research/ states/ vermont-dormant-mineral-act">Vermont Dormant Mineral Act</ a>, U.S. Mineral Rights Law Atlas, American Mineral Registry, release 2026.10.1 (2026-10-06).
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title = {Vermont Dormant Mineral Act},
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date = {2026-10-06},
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General information about statutes, not legal advice and not a title opinion. Facts about a specific interest decide the outcome. Published by American Mineral Registry, which also runs a commercial service for owners; see how the two relate.